House holds Holder in contempt of Congress; Next up: Prosecution.

Holder Cited For Contempt By U.S. House Panel In Vote
By Seth Stern - Jun 20, 2012 5:07 PM ET

A U.S. House committee brushed aside President Barack Obamaâs claim of executive privilege and held Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress for failing to turn over documents related to a law enforcement effort to track guns to Mexican drug cartels.

In a party-line vote, the Republican majority on the House Oversight and Government Reform panel voted to approve the first contempt citation for a Cabinet member in 14 years.

Republican leaders said the full House will vote on the measure next week, setting up a potential referral of the case to the U.S. attorney in Washington to determine whether prosecution is warranted.

This is the first time Obama has invoked executive privilege, according to the White House.

Executive privilege is a principle that says the executive branch canât be forced by the legislative branch to disclose confidential communications when they would harm operations